Cons:

Sid Meier's complete remake of the GameSpy Hall-of-FamerPirates! quietly slipped onto store shelves this season, but it's not to be missed. It's got a simplicity and elegance that you just don't see in PC games anymore: It's pure gameplay, fun from the opening credits onward. As a player you'll be constantly engaged, firing broadsides, clashing swords, sacking villages and -- oh yes -- taking time for the laaaadies. Pirates! is piracy without the work, and while it may grow repetitive after extended play, it's in a class of its own.

The premise is simple and completely open-ended: You're a rogue Captain during the heyday of Caribbean piracy. You'll have a ship and a crew of your own, and what you do with them is up to you. You could be a peaceful trader, ferrying cargo throughout the colonies -- as if. Or you could be a complete rogue, an enemy to all, racing from Pirate havens to attack anything with sails. More likely, you'll cultivate relationships with the English, French, Spanish, or Dutch, becoming a legitimate Privateer in their interests and rising through the ranks to become an Admiral or Duke. You can also simply try to amass wealth, collect lovers in every port, find and reunite your missing family, or simply defeat rivals to become the most infamous Pirate in the West Indies. The game doesn't dictate your goals, it simply turns you loose in an interactive Caribbean.

Pirates! has eye-candy and gameplay to back it up.

Gameplay itself consists of several mini-games seamlessly integrated into each other, flowing smoothly from one to the next. You'll sail around the sea looking for your next adventure, zoom in for ship-to-ship combat if attacked, then swing onto the deck for a swordfight once the two ships crash together. Each part of the game is enjoyable; but together, the sum is greater than the whole, providing that magical addictiveness that keeps you rooted to your computer for "just a couple more minutes" for hours on end.

Elegance and Simplicity

One of the most compelling things about Pirates! is that the design is completely straightforward. Controls are a snap. While many PC games these days belabor players with complex systems that require quick-reference cards or tutorial missions to wade through, Pirates! is so simple that you literally just start playing and -- poof! -- you're a pirate. Sailing around is completely intuitive. All the buttons you need for the mini-games are displayed on the screen, with your fingers rarely leaving the number pad. Hell, you could probably play it if you had a pirate hook for a hand. You can also adjust the game's difficulty between each cruise, so even in the middle of your first game you can gradually adjust the game to match your skill level. In many ways it's like a great console game: easy to just pick up and play, proof that great PC games don't have to be complicated to be enjoyable.

But just because Pirates! is simple doesn't mean it's simplistic. The different game elements (swordfighting, ship-to-ship combat, land battles, even ballroom dancing) all feed off of and interact with one another to make for an engaging whole. Let's take the romantic part of the game, for example. When you meet with the Governor of a town, he may introduce you to his daughter. If she's beautiful, you may not even stand a chance with her until you rise to the rank of Baron within that nation. Rising in rank will require you to sink that country's enemies, capture enemy outposts, escort important cargoes, or any number of tasks elsewhere in the game. Once you're a Baron, you can get invited to the ball where you can play a Dance-Dance Revolution-style mini-game in order to win over the beauty's heart. If you succeed, she may give you a hint on where to find a family member, or an item that might come in handy -- like an improved sword that'll make swordfighting easier elsewhere in the game. A return visit to the Governor's daughter might reveal that she has a jealous boyfriend, and you'll need to fight a duel with him using the swordfighting game. It's all very integrated; success in one part of the game opens up new doors in the rest of the game, and you can always use one set of skills to circumvent your weakness in other areas.